


Offline Blues

by tatersalad5001



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Future, Depression, Drabble, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-02-04 12:23:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18604465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tatersalad5001/pseuds/tatersalad5001
Summary: Their fight against Lightning had been rough. It had been hard, and it had been cruel. Everyone had lost a lot to reach their victory -- friends, loved ones, themselves -- but in the end, they had won. Lightning and Bohman were defeated. It still wasn’t the end; Go Onizuka still had Earth, and SOL Technologies were still after the rest of the Ignis. That didn’t mean they hadn’t won at all, though, or that they hadn’t gained anything from it. Jin had been rescued, Miyu was able to wake up, and the countless people who had been absorbed into Bohman, including the members of the alliance Yusaku and Takeru had fought with other than Yusaku himself, were freed and released from Vrains. Even small victories needed to be celebrated, and this was no small victory.But not everyone was in a celebratory mood.





	1. i don't know who i am

**Author's Note:**

> [Offline Blues](https://youtu.be/FEddQO1kcyw?list=PLQO0yMz7fiPAMHLRP5lZxBjROQC3y2gp1)
> 
>  
> 
> wanted to write something but was too tired to write anything i really should be writing. was going through my drafts on tumblr and found [this post](https://elimemes.tumblr.com/post/178012075016/soft-angst-starters-stay-for-me-whats-this) and felt kinda inspired. this is real short but it's something. thinking about the boys. that post isn't by me or anything though i just drafted it awhile back for. inspiration.
> 
> might do more of these eventually. we'll see. it would be fun but i'm not gonna guarantee anything over here.
> 
> Edit: if you’re just tuning in, this chapter was written before the end of season two. any chapters other than this first chapter were written after the end of the season, and more closely resemble canon

“I don’t know who I am.”

Takeru looked closely at Yusaku as he said those words. A frown formed on Takeru’s face. “What do you mean?”

Their fight against Lightning had been rough. It had been hard, and it had been cruel. Everyone had lost a lot to reach their victory -- friends, loved ones, themselves -- but in the end, they had won. Lightning and Bohman were defeated. It still wasn’t the end; Go Onizuka still had Earth, and SOL Technologies were still after the rest of the Ignis. That didn’t mean they hadn’t won at all, though, or that they hadn’t gained anything from it. Jin had been rescued, Miyu was able to wake up, and the countless people who had been absorbed into Bohman, including the members of the alliance Yusaku and Takeru had fought with other than Yusaku himself, were freed and released from Vrains. Even small victories needed to be celebrated, and this was no small victory.

But not everyone was in a celebratory mood.

“Once everything’s over, once we save Earth and we make sure the Ignis are safe...” Yusaku stared at the floor, refusing to make eye contact with Takeru. “You said we could return to our lives, get to be ourselves again. But I don’t know who I am. I don’t know how to return to a life I wasn’t living.”

Any words Takeru could respond with died in his throat. He didn’t know what to say.

“For ten years I tried to pick up the pieces and keep going through life,” Yusaku went on. “I used to know who I was when I was younger than that. I never questioned it, I never needed to. I don’t remember any of that life, anymore, and even after ten years I haven’t been able to figure out who I am after everything that happened to us. That’s why I set out to confront the darkness that changed the course of our lives, because I failed. I thought that learning the truth would give me closure. I let revenge consume me because I had nothing else left. And I did find all the answers I was looking for... except for how to start living again.”

“Well, if you don’t know who you are,” Takeru replied, “then we’ll just have to figure that out now. Better late than never.”

“How do I do that?”

Takeru shook his head. “That’s the problem. Trying to do it on your own. You and I both did the same thing, we both pushed the people around us away and wouldn’t let anyone get close. I didn’t know how to keep going, either, or how to find myself again. Until I met you and Flame, I didn’t know how to, either. It was because of you two that I figured it out. Just ask Kiku. I was completely different before I heard of Playmaker. I couldn’t do it on my own.”

He reached out and held both of Yusaku’s hands in his. “You helped me figure out who I am, and how to find my path through life again. Let me do the same for you.”

Yusaku looked down at their hands. “With you?” A smile flashed across his lips. “I think I can try to find myself one more time.”


	2. i wish you were here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter takes place between seasons 2 and 3 we're crying in this chilis tonight
> 
> if you're just tuning in, chapter 1 was written before season 2 of vrains was finished...this is chapter 2, written after season 3 has begun.

"I wish you were here."

Takeru stared down at his duel disk. Empty.

For years, this duel disk had been shoved as far out of sight as he could manage. He didn't want to even think about dueling. The void dueling left was filled with detentions and entire days spent wondering what the point of everything was.

Then, the duel disk saw the light of day again. Takeru was used to looking down at it and seeing Flame staring back up at him. Flame ready with some joke at Takeru's expense as Takeru drew his next card. Each duel, each turn the result of the partnership they'd forged.

Takeru still wore the duel disk on his wrist. He still kept his cards in it. But now there was no one else there. Flame was gone.

A noise pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Yusaku picked up his own duel disk from the ground. Takeru was used to seeing Ai pop out of the duel disk with a pun at the ready, too, but Ai wasn't here now either.

"If Lightning hadn't tried to unite all the Ignis and start a war against humanity, Flame would still be here," Yusaku said. "They all would be."

Ai was still supposed to be around, somewhere, but he'd simply vanished one day after the final duel against Bohman. The rest of the Ignis, however, including Flame, were gone for good now. This wasn't the outcome any of them had fought for.

"It wouldn't have even mattered if Windy hadn't brought Flame down." Takeru wiped a hand against his duel disk's screen. It was getting dusty. "I lost the duel anyway."

"You fought at his side to the end and dueled with everything you had for what you and Flame believed in," Yusaku reminded him. "I'm sure he knew that. No one could've done any better than that."

"Someone could've. Someone else could've won."

Yusaku placed his hand on the duel disk, over Takeru's. "No one else could've had the same bond with Flame that you have. Your deck is the result of that bond. You and Flame rose up together like a phoenix after the Lost Incident and the destruction of Cyberse World. No one else could've played that deck. And no one else could've fought so hard for Flame, either."

"He should blame me."

"We both know he wouldn't. So you shouldn't, either."

Takeru stared up at the ceiling. "It's not fair that Flame and the others never got the coexistence they were fighting for. Life's just never been fair to any of us. But it's better than not fighting back at all. We got to coexist for a little while, and I don't regret a second of it."


End file.
